This section provides a general summary of background information and the comments and examples provided in this section are not necessarily prior art to the present disclosure.
A vehicle closure, such as a door for a vehicle passenger compartment, is hinged to swing between open and closed positions and typically includes a door latch assembly that is housed between inner and outer panels of the door. The door latch assembly functions in a well-known manner to latch the door when closed, to lock the door in the closed position and to unlock and unlatch the door so that the door can be opened.
The door latch assembly can be operated remotely from the exterior of the automobile by at least two distinct operators which typically include a key cylinder that controls a locking mechanism and an outside door handle that controls a release mechanism. The door latch assembly can also be operated remotely from inside the passenger compartment by at least two distinct operators which typically include a sill button or pull knob that controls the locking mechanism and an inside door handle that controls the release mechanism. Vehicle door latch assembles may also include other features such as, for example, power door locks in which the locking mechanism is motor driven and/or a keyless entry system in which a key fob transmitter sends a signal to a receiver in the vehicle to operate the motor-driven locking mechanism.
While door latch assemblies of the type noted above operate satisfactorily for their intended purpose, a recognized need exists to make further improvements in an effort to reduce complexity, weight and cost while concomitantly improving performance. To this end, a specific need exists to develop a door latch assembly having a release mechanism capable of permitting release of the locking mechanism from within the passenger compartment via actuation of an inside door release mechanism. Such a design configuration would be advantageous in the event that a side impact causes damage to the door's outer panel which hinders release of the locking mechanism via actuation of the outside door release mechanism.